The Left Banke 'Desiree' (Smash, 1968) (mp3)

Delicious, strident and swirling piece of baroque sixties pop.

The Left Banke crafted two albums of baroque, string-laden pop and also wrote 'Walk Away Renee' which was made (most) famous by The Four Tops.

By the time of their second album ('Too') principal songwriter Michael Brown had left making just one contribution to the album. 'Desiree' builds to an urgent, storming pace from an intro of voice and cello, taking in brass, strings and lashings of harmonies.

Recently released on Sundazed along with their debut album.

Download The Left Banke 'Desiree' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Silver Apples 'Oscillations' (MCA, 1968)

If you've ever stood at a gig or, more likely, a festival, watching Fuck Buttons manipulating what looks like a wallpapering table covered in small boxes and kettle leads and wondering where this ground-breaking new way of making music came from then Silver Apples are the source to which you must travel.

Dating back to 1968, 'Oscillations' is the opening track from their debut album and it's a hypnotic marriage of inventive drumming, bleeps, hums, skronks, screeches and spooky incantations. Silver Apples actually formed in New York in 1867 and were apparently jamming with Hendrix back in the day.

The picture in the album shows their recording set-up to be a room covered in what appears to be small boxes and kettle leads. So eerily reminiscent of Fuck Buttons then. Except you can understand the words.

Download Silver Apples 'Oscillations' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Read a great article from Sound On Sound about Silver Apples.